Thursday, October 18, 2012

Mate Rimac's e-M3 launches itself into FIA record books

A few years back, Mate Rimac replaced the internal combustion drivetrain in his 1986 BMW E30 with an electric one and dubbed it the bi-moto EV – it was originally intended it to have two motors. Then, in a quest to build the fastest electric car ever, he reconfigured that original setup four more times.

His patience and hard work paid off and the old Bimmer became a 600-horsepower, battery-powered monster capable of slingshotting from a dead stop to 60 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds. Indeed, it was fast enough to fulfill its maker's record-setting dream and, after taking about 17 months to dot i's and cross t's, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) has officially recognized it as the quickest electric car in the world in its Category A, Group VIII (electric vehicle), Class 3 (above 1000 kilograms). Its respective 1/8 and 1/4-mile times of 7.549 and 11.808 seconds displaced the former record holder, the very lovely Peugeot EX1.

If the Rimac name rings a bell, you'll be well aware that the young Croatian has not been waiting for the FIA paper work whilst resting on some beach alongside the Adriatic, leafy laurels between his buttocks and the time-worn sand. No, he has taken what he's learned from that first project, started Rimac Automobili and built the (even faster) glorious Concept_One.

From AutoBlog.Comhttp://green.autoblog.com/2012/10/16/mate-rimacs-e-m3-launches-itself-into-fia-record-books/#continued